In Australia this tuna season is shaping up to be unlike any other with more product than ever being sold in small fresh batches as opposed to large frozen contracts.
Increasing supply into Japan from farms in the Mediterranean and elsewhere have prompted Australian tuna companies to adopt different strategies such as going out to catch the fish earlier than normal in December.
Negotiations for the large frozen contracts are on-going and it is not yet clear how many, if any, Japanese freezer vessels will come over to Port Lincoln.
Tony's Tuna International on Tuesday processed its first batch of fish for freezing that will be shipped to Japan by container ship from Melbourne. Manager Leith Whittaker said this year was unusual with the catcher boats heading out earlier than normal. And like most companies, Tony's Tuna had already harvested two cages or as much as 130 tons, and this had been air-freighted to Japan as fresh product. “It's not shaping up too bad,†Mr. Whittaker said. “The price is down, but we are here for the long-haul and in a few years things should come good.â€
Tuna industry spokesman Brian Jeffriess, who is currently in the Mediterranean on a fact finding mission, said last week that the harvest would get underway for real now that fish were being frozen.
Freezer boats were still being used in Europe and so Port Lincoln may only see one or two vessels if any this year, with most product going over in containers, he said. “While the price is substantially lower, things are improving all the time,†he said.
All the fish that had been harvested as fresh product was good because it reduced the amount to be frozen, but there was less of a profit margin on fresh product as its shipping costs per kilogram were much higher, he said.
Despite all the harvest activity that had taken place already, companies liked to stretch the season out and Mr. Jeffriess anticipated fish would still be coming out of the water in September.
First frozen: Processing the first fish for frozen contracts at Tony’s Tuna International on Tuesday are Stewart Lamming-Endemann and Amy Chesher
